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Norwegian police said Thursday they were investigating a claim from a group of environmental activists that it deliberately sank a whaling ship last month.

Activists calling themselves Agenda 21 claimed responsibility for the sinking "to celebrate the end of commercial whaling in Iceland," according to a message posted on the US-hosted website www.directaction.info.

They said they ensured the vessel was unoccupied before opening its salt water intake valve, flooding the ship.

The ship, the "Willassen Senior" sunk on August 31 without casualties. It was moored in the port of Svolvaer located in northwest Norway's Lofoten Islands, an area known for whaling.

Police said the boat was in the process of being salvaged. Investigator Kjetil Woldstad confirmed that upon inspecting the boat "an open valve in engine room appeared to have been opened."

The activist group said its actions were "a rational response to a world where tens of thousands of species disappear every year."

After hearing about the website boast, local police decided to open an inquiry.

The Minke whale typically hunted in Norway is part of the World Conservation Union's "near threatened" species list, although that could be changed when a revised list is put out next year.

An estimated 120,000 Minke whales live in the North Atlantic Ocean.

In 1993 Norway defied a 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling and has been whaling ever since.

Source - AFP